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Thomas Brackenreid
A Merry Murdoch Christmas The Murdoch Effect |notseen = |mention = |gender = Male |status = Alive |relationships = Margaret Brackenreid, wife John Brackenreid, son Bobby Brackenreid, son Unnamed late sister Charlie Brackenreid, nephew, William Murdoch (friend) |job = Inspector}} Thomas Brackenreid '''is one of the original main characters in Murdoch Mysteries and is portrayed by British actor Thomas Craig. '''Thomas Brackenreid is the rough and tumble Inspector of the Toronto Constabulary's Station House No. 4. His favorite catchphrases are "Bloody Hell" and "Me Ol' Mucker" followed by a swig of scotch in a tea cup (his one vice). Former army man and far more experienced with the ways of the world than Detective Murdoch and Constable Crabtree, he runs a tight ship bonded by steadfast loyalty. Crusty, he is quite quick to anger and can be very tenacious at times. Surprisingly, he enjoys the opera and theatre like coroner Dr. Ogden and can recite Shakespeare. When the Inspector asks, "What's my motto, Murdoch?" The Detective replies, "You have several, sir. All gems." Brackenreid corrects him, "No, no, no. Those are aphorisms. I only have one motto, and that's "Follow the money"' ' (ep.113). Thomas is married to Margaret, and has two young sons. "A gruff man like Brackenreid needs a spitfire of a wife..." – Investigating Murdoch Mysteries. Margaret gave him the St. George's pin that Inspector Brackenreid always wears on his lapel (ep.802). Character Arc Originally, he strongly disagreed with most of Murdoch's methods and seems to have a very short temper when around Crabtree although they do show some friendship in later episodes. He has throughout the series had to hide his drinking habits from his wife, Margaret, and relies particularly on the drink when in difficult situations. Thomas is particularly competitive especially with the other station houses, getting into many battles against them, for example a baseball game which they did win. Brackenreid is a great admirer of theatre and opera. He reveres talented actors and himself once had ambitions to become an actor. He played Second Clown in a performance of Hamlet. He is a great admirer of Stella Smart in [[Body Double|''Body Double]] and opera diva Rosa Hamilton in [[Murdoch at the Opera|Murdoch at the Opera'']]. File:Til_death_11.jpg|In "'Til Death Do Us Part" File:Body_double_11.jpg|With Stella Smart in "Body Double" File:Still_waters_08.jpg|In "Still Waters" File:Childs_play_07.jpg|In "Child's Play" File:Back_and_to_the_left_02.jpg|In "Back and to the Left" athena.png|With Athena Between the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Season 8, he was brutally attacked and as a result spent three months in the hospital (being substituted by Hamish Slorach in the Station House), during which he became a very talented painter, perhaps because of his injury. He was also resolved not going back to police work (also fearing for his family's safety), but his wife convinced him that enforcing the law was his life. He then began a lone search for the responsible for this and other crimes, using decidedly ruthless methods (like beating men for information and breaking into places) and telling a worried Murdoch that he was now choosing the "law of the jungle"; however, when he found out the one responsible, despite being tempted to kill her, ultimately he abides by the law he has served for so many years. Right thereafter he returned to his job of Inspector. Brax Painting S801.PNG|On the Waterfront Part 1 Brax Painting GloryDays.PNG|Glory Days Brax Painting S804.PNG|Holy Matrimony, Murdoch! Brax Painting S806 Twain.PNG|The Murdoch Appreciation Society (episode) Brax_art.jpg|All That Glitters In Season 9, Brackenreid works to get Crabtree out of Don Jail (ep.901), tries to please Margaret by joining the Empire Club, and adds Mark Twain to his autograph book (ep.902). Once again, he struggles with Margaret's involvement in the Temperance Movement by curbing his drinking which involves their son John (ep.906). Being a football (soccer) man, Inspector Brackenreid has a Sheffield Wednesday 1867 tattoo (ep.909). By the end of the season, he and Murdoch are faced with a Chief Constable who is not only a racist (ep.913) but a corrupt cop. Their sting backfires landing Brackenreid in jail and losing his rank (ep.916) before being vindicated. Gallery File:Vanished_corpse_04.jpg|In "The Vanished Corpse" Category:Characters Category:Police Officers Category:Main Characters